Ch 8 · Lesson 14Esperanto · Chapter 8 · Lesson 14 · Grammar primer
dis- and mis-: apart and wrongly
i is to hand out, i is to misunderstand: dis- scatters, mis- gets it wrong. And is a mystery, with no mis- in it.
The short version
dis- scatters it, mis- gets it wrong
is .
Why?Hide
Dis- sends an action out in all directions: i is to hand out, i to go separate ways. Mis- says it happened but went wrong: i is to misunderstand, i to misread. Neither is : is you did not understand me; is is you understood me wrongly.
Watch the false friends
,
Why?Hide
Re-, dis- and mis- are as productive as ek-: is to come back, i is to hand out, i is to misunderstand. But a word starting with those letters is not necessarily built from them. , and have no ek- in them; , and have no re-; and has no mis-. The root comes first, and the affix has to be a real morpheme rather than a coincidence of spelling.
Esperanto's endings say when; five affixes say what shape the event has. - starts it, - repeats or returns it, -- keeps it going, - scatters it and - gets it wrong.
| Affix | Job | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
- | it starts | | to fall asleep |
- | again, or back | relegi | to read again |
-- | it goes on | | to sleep on and on |
- | in all directions | | to hand out |
- | wrongly | | to misunderstand |
dis-: apart, in all directions
- sends the action outwards, to several places at once:
| Plain verb | With dis- | English |
|---|---|---|
| | to hand out |
| | to go separate ways |
| | to send out (to many) |
| | to smash to pieces |
| | to fall apart |
.- The teacher handed out the books.
It is not -, which turns a word into its opposite. gives (give back, to one person) and (give out, to many), and neither is the opposite of giving. (distance) is a plain root.
mis-: wrongly
- says the action happened, but went wrong:
| Plain verb | With mis- | English |
|---|---|---|
| | to misunderstand |
| | to misread |
| | to misuse |
| | to miscalculate |
.- You misunderstood me.
Compare . (you did not understand me): says it did not happen, - says it happened wrongly. And is a mystery, with no - in it.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
is | | slept for eight hours: - is only the dropping off |
is | | did not follow at all: - is understanding wrongly |
is | is | new books, out to the class: out to many is - |
Going further: Two axes, not one and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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